It’s Competition Time!

Sorry, I don’t have a competition for you (who knows what’ll happen in the future) but I have found some you might want to think about entering. How nice am I? Not only that, but here are some other writing opportunities. If you have been following past blog posts or my Twitter and LinkedIn updates, you may recognise one or two but here they are all together. Will there be any more before the end of the year? Maybe and if I find any, I’ll let you know.

Definitely nice, yeah?

The Manchester Writing Competitions

Whether you’re a fiction, poetry or children’s writer, there’s a competition for you thanks to MMU’s Writing School. These are BIG competitions, guys. The fiction and poetry prizes have first prizes of £10,000! Thousands of submissions are entered to these competitions from around the world – bear this in mind if and when you enter.

Fresh page for a new project? What to write next?

It’s not a bad thing not to make it, compared to the talent you’re up against but I never pass up a challenge. There is a cost but in terms of what you could win, it’s worth passing up another competition or two to really test yourself here.

More information on these competitions can be found here but just remember the deadline is the 29th August, so not long!

The Bridport Prize

Okay, so if the first one is a bit too close (and if you haven’t got anything or been planning on entering, it probably is) then maybe The Bridport Prize is a better shout. The 2014 competition is closed but entries for 2015 will be accepted from mid-November, roughly.

There are multiple categories for this competition too so don’t feel like you have to focus on stories or poems – flash fiction is an option here! If that’s your forte, brilliant but if not, you’ll be competing with me so watch out (note, that applies to short story writers – I’m no poet).

For any writer looking to get published (without self-publishing, that is) then the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook is a must have book – but this isn’t about the book, you probably know all about it, and if not you will soon enough, I’m sure.

The short story competition comes around once a year and the deadline is in February, so you have plenty of time. This year’s theme is joy and the quality is high. Looking to make your mark and prove how good you are? Then this is one for you.

You can find more details of this competition, with its theme of joy, here. Good luck!

Modern Dreams

I’ve mentioned this in a previous entry (the Writing Opportunity post) and this is something I’m still working on. It still sounds like a great opportunity and there’s plenty of time it seems so if this is the first you’re hearing about it then don’t worry – but now is the time to start!

For more, check out my previous blog post (link above) or visit their own blog here – or why not check both?!

NaNoWriMo

Ah, NaNoWriMo. This stands for National Novel Writing Month and it takes place in November each year. The goal is to write a novel of at least 50,000 in the 30 days of this month. Does that sound tough? Well, it is!

I’ve attempted it five times in the last seven years. Only once have I completed it. Things get in the way and there are a number of ways people approach it, with the most popular being intensive writing days balanced with off days or spreading it out to about 2,000 words a day (the approach I take). Keeping on top of life and work as well can be difficult but it’s a great effort. Even to come away with the start of a novel and the desire to push on is a great achievement.

You can sign up to the NaNoWriMo website to track your progress, find places to meet with other writers and access useful resources or you can go it alone, whatever suits you!

Are you attempting any of these? Let me know, I’d be interested to hear of your approaches and ideas!